Jesuits serving in Dili have returned a school it managed for 18 years to the diocese of Dili after their contract finished. The transfer of the St Joseph Senior High School, locally known as Colegio de Sao Jose, was conducted during a December 14 Holy Mass led by Vicar General Father Apolinario Aparicio Guterres. In his homily, Father Guterres thanked the society for developing both the Church and the nation through the school and also praised Jesuits for educating young people about how to become qualified and disciplined individuals. “Students of this school must be witnesses in society. You must keep studying. Show your Christian identity and maintain brotherhood, as we all believe in Jesus Christ,” he told students and their parents attending the event. According to former headmaster of the school, Jesuit Father Plinio Gusmao Martins, the transfer was a history for the society since it managed the school for 18 years. “I witnessed and was involved in this school’s development in terms of intellectuality, spirituality and skills,” he recalled. The school was established by the diocese in 1983. Ten years later, the diocese entrusted the school to Jesuits.